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Transverse parton structure of the nucleon and the black-disk limit in high-energy scattering

Conference ·
OSTI ID:862418
The transverse spatial distribution of partons in the nucleon (generalized parton distributions) is a crucial ingredient in the description of high-energy ep and pp scattering with hard QCD processes. Experimental information about the transverse spatial distribution of gluons comes from measurements of the t-dependence of J/psi production at HERA and other processes. We discuss the physical mechanisms leading to a growth of the nucleon's transverse size at small x. Based on this information, we study the interaction of small-size color dipoles with the proton in the leading log Q{sup 2} approximation. We find that at small x and central impact parameters the dipole-nucleon interaction approaches the unitarity, or black-disk (BDL) limit. We argue that this new regime of strong interactions can be probed in central pp collisions at LHC.
Research Organization:
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE - Office of Energy Research (ER)
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-84ER40150
OSTI ID:
862418
Report Number(s):
JLAB-THY-06-03; DOE/ER/40150-3675
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English